Timothy Huyer @tim4hire.bsky.social Dec 6, 2024:
Sonia Pelletier, 28 Head of class and pride of her remote Gaspé hometown. Youngest of 8 children. Her dream was to return home and start her own engineering firm. Murdered on her last day of classes before final exams.
Anne-Marie Edward Chemical engineering student. Loved outdoor sports like skiing and also did many other sports and games. Was also involved in the student government. Was buried in her ski-team jacket. Her team wore patches on their left sleeves with her initials AME after her murder.
Anne-Marie Lemay, 22 4th-year mechanical engineering. Elder of two sisters. Sang in a rock band and was helping raise funds for a class trip overseas. Her friend, Heidi Rathjen, survived the attack and became a vocal advocate for gun control
Annie St-Arneault, 23 Mechanical engineering. Youngest of 3 children. Had plans to marry her boyfriend whom shed’ been dating since she was a teen. Murdered in her last class while listening to a presentation. Had a job interview scheduled for the following day.
Annie St-Arneault
Annie Turcotte, 20 1st-year metallurgical engineering. Native of Granby, youngest of 3, living in Montreal with her brother. Had a scholarship for women in science and was comfortable working on cars. Gentle and athletic. Had dreams of improving the environment.
Barbara Daigneault, 22 Last year of mechanical engineering. Teaching assistant for her father, a professor at UQAM, was supposed to meet him two days later to complete her final project. Her father never recovered from her murder, and died less than 7 years later.
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, 31 1st-year nursing. Had moved to Montreal from Poland with her husband two years earlier. They had moved to Canada because they believed it was the safest place in the world. She and her husband were in the cafeteria when she was murdered.
Geneviève Bergeron, 21 2nd-year mechanical engineering. Had a scholarship. Played clarinet and sang in a professional choir. In the summer before her murder, she travelled to Morocco with her mother.
Hélène Colgan, 23 Final year of mechanical engineering, was considering pursuing a Master’s degree. Studious and loved reading. Had three job offers. Best friends with Nathalie Croteau, another of the murder victims.
Nathalie Croteau, 23 Was 3 months shy of completing mechanical engineering degree. Resident of Broassard, elder of two sisters. Was planning on a 2-week vacation in Cancun with Hélène Colgan at the end of the month.
Michèle (Mimi) Richard, 21 2nd-year metallurgical engineering. Elder of two children, raised by her single mother who called Michèle her best friend and confidante. Had recently reconciled with her father, and was about to get married. Was giving a presentation to her class when she was murdered.
Maud Haviernick, 29 2nd-year engineering, had already earned a degree in environmental design from UQAM. One of three sisters, lived in Laval with her boyfriend of 7 years. Was giving a presentation with Michèle Richard when she was murdered.
Maryse Leclair, 23 4th-year materials engineering. One of the top students. Her father, police Lt. Pierre Leclaire was at the scene after her murder and was the one who discovered her body. She had been wearing the same sweater she had worn to Sunday dinner with her family the week before.
Maryse Laganière, 25 Worked in the engineering school’s finance department. Had gotten married 3 months before her murder. Her husband had come to the school to pick her up that night only to be met by the chaos, was anxiously scanning the faces of survivors hoping to find her.
35 years later, femicide, intimate partner violence and other violence against women continue to plague us across Canada and internationally. Women are harassed, abused, assaulted and murdered because of their sex. 35 years later, not enough has changed.
The Canadian Femicide Observatory tracks women murdered in Canada. Every woman listed is a tragedy and a call for action. Beyond the list of those murdered are those who survived attacks, all who are victims of violence against women.
35 years later, not enough has changed.
End male violence against men too, notably by rape religions, perhaps then men might be less eager to rape and murder women.